7MM08
 

I am planning to purchase a 7MM08. It will be used mainly for whitetail deer. Whould this caliber be alright for a black bear and what type of bullet and brand?

RE: 7MM08
 

Fine for black bear.. It is a 28 caliber round.. A good round is the 120 Grain HP from Remi.. Also the Hornady Light mags in 139 grains are sweet bullets..

RE: 7MM08
 

I'd have no qualms about using my 7mm08 on blackbear, or even moose or elk. Make sure you get a decent bullet and shoot it straight. My rifle likes partitions. I'm gonna try some of the TSX bullets one of these days too.

RE: 7MM08
 

7-08 will be plenty potent for blackies and deer! Nosler Bts for deer and partitions for bear would be my picks...

RE: 7MM08
 

+1 on what carpmaster said. The 140BT is great for deer and any partition made would work well on elk and bear with first choice maybe going to the 150PT. A TSX would also be nice for the bigger game.

RE: 7MM08
 

i dont know if i would get this gun for bear. I have used it for bear but is my only gun. THe best overall bullet is the 140 core lock bullet by remington. Its a overall good and versatile gun caliber. I would like to say that i have retrieved a lot of bullets that did not go through whitetails. One this year..This is not a nock down gun. YOu can kill anything with good shot placement though... I shot a 9 point this year and he ran 150 yards like i never touch them....Double lung and i hit rib on the entry..YOu make the call...I know bear are tougher than deer

RE: 7MM08
 

The 7mm-08 is fine for black bear. I would shy away from the 120 gr bullets though and use nothing less than 139 grainers. (154s preferred for blackies). I've taken several deer with mine using Hornady's 139 gr interlocks. The Hornady SSTs just didn't shoot well out of both of my 7-08s.
The interlocks will work fine for both deer and black bear. But if your area holds really big bear I would probably go with something like the partition or Barnes bullet.

RE: 7MM08
 

The 7-08 is plenty good enough for black bear. They just aren't that hard to kill. I agree the 140 gr, range of bullets is probably where you want to be. I'm shooting 140 gr. Accubonds in mine and have great results (entry and exit) on whitetail. Also, great accuracy.

RE: 7MM08
 

Just for clarification I would use the120 for deer not Blackies.

RE: 7MM08
 

If I was going to do a lot of black bear hunting I would work up a load with the 160 grain partition personally.

RE: 7MM08
 

cj - I may be wrong but I don't think the 120 gr bullet in 7mm was designed for deer sized game and is more of a varmint bullet. I use Hornady's 120 gr SSP bullet in my 7-30 Waters out of my Contender handgun. But this bullet was designed to be used at the lower velocities from handguns. The SSP designation is for Single Shot Pistol. Shooting these out of a rilfe may result in bullet fragmentation and inadequate penetration. Just to be safe I would suggest a 139 gr as a min for deer out of your 7-08.

RE: 7MM08
 

I also so shoot the 85 Grain BTHP out of my 243 which many consider a varmit load. But it does a number on deer. I don't want a bullet that goes thru. I want all the energy deposited into the animal. With a HP you have massive internal destruction. It is like having a hand grenade go off inside the deer.

RE: 7MM08
 

7mm-08 is just fine for bear and deer. 140 gr Corelokts work just fine as well.

RE: 7MM08
 

I think the 130 gr Speers would be a good choice for whitetail. Gonna try some one of these days but I cant imagine anything being more cost effective than the core lokts. As far as a 140core lokt not penetrating...I aint buying...